The 2016 Iowa Use Tax

6.00%

The Iowa use tax is a special excise tax assessed on property purchased for use in Iowa in a jurisdiction where a lower (or no) sales tax was collected on the purchase.

The Iowa use tax should be paid for items bought tax-free over the internet, bought while traveling, or transported into Iowa from a state with a lower sales tax rate.

The Iowa use tax rate is 6%, the same as the regular Iowa sales tax. Including local taxes, the Iowa use tax can be as high as 1.000%.

What exactly is the Iowa use tax?

The Iowa Use Tax is a little-known tax that complements the regular Iowa sales tax to ensure that purchases made outside of Iowa are not exempt from the Iowa sales tax.

Instead of taxing the sale of tangible property which takes place outside of Iowa's jurisdiction (and thus cannot be taxed), the Iowa Use Tax taxes the use or consumption of tangible property bought in other jurisdictions with a lower sales tax rate and brought back into Iowa.

How Do I Calculate How Much Use Tax I Owe?

If you made any purchases online or outside of Iowa for which you paid less then Iowa's 6% in sales tax, you are responsible for paying Iowa a use tax on those purchases equal to 6% of the total purchase price less any sales taxes already paid to other jurisductions.

Example 1: If $100 worth of books is purchased from an online retailer and no sales tax is collected, the buyer would become liable to pay Iowa a total of $100 × 6% = $6.00 in use tax.

Example 2: If a $10,000 boat is purchased tax-free and then brought into a jurisdiction with a 4% sales tax rate, the buyer would become liable to pay Iowa a total of (6% - 4%) × $10,000 = $600.00 in use tax.

Example 3: If $1,000 worth of goods are purchased in a jurisdiction with a 7% sales tax rate, no use tax is owed to Iowa because the foreign jurisdiction's sales tax rate is greater then or equal to Iowa's 6% sales tax.

How do I pay the Iowa use tax?

In many states, an optional field for remitting use tax is included in the state income tax return. A use tax return form may also be available on the Iowa Department of Revenue website for calculating and paying use tax.

Above: Example use tax field on a state income tax return

Use tax is a self-assessed tax with a very low public awareness rate, and as a result states have a very hard time enforcing use tax compliance. Only about 1.6% of taxpayers pay use tax each year, remitting an average of $69 in use taxes on total purchases averaging $929. [1]

Government studies have shown that a large percentage of use tax payments are made as the result of an audit or under the threat of an audit. If unpaid use tax is discovered by a Iowa tax audit, significant underpayment fees and interest may apply.